The Blankenschipf Curse

by: Jim Murdock

Published by: Infinity Publishing

Reviewed by Michele E. Davis

Murdock’s first book has a lot of information in it, and if you can survive the first 100 pages of pedantic narrative, you’ll be golden and can see that this self-published work turned a chiropractor into a real writer by the end of the book.

His main protagonist, Rube Winters, thinks he has a curse that causes bad events to happen to him. Most of us would just toss it up to karma or a bad day, but Winter’s family really believes in the Blankenschipf curse that always strikes the first-born Winter son.

A rogue narrator appears and disappears all the while consistently trying to give the reader information that is blatantly obvious in the story. The “rogue narrator” makes the book worse and between him and the novel, this book is a testament that the Confederate flag is flying high in Georgia since we get incest, physical abuse, bigotry, Yankee hatred and continual drunkenness. Murdock validates every stereotype about the South that exists.

If you can ignore that and the “telling” of the story instead of “showing” with descriptive terms, you can finish the book and get to the real nugget of wisdom. This wisdom is about forgiveness and how you can live healthier. Winter’s eccentric professor from chiropractic school appears at the end of the book and is a dashing, intelligent, God-filled conduit for the 21st Century.
A good read, but not until after the first 100 pages. Murdock means well and is just getting his sea legs as a writer, so he’s worth a read.

Armchair Interviews says: Another good story told by a good writer that would have benefited from having a professional editing.

Author’s Web site: http://www.JimMurdock.com